Pass pot bill to alleviate suffering

The heroin epidemic ravaging the nation is tied closely to the availability of powerful, legal prescription painkillers classified as opioids. People become addicted to the painkillers but switch to heroin, which generally is cheaper and easier to obtain.

Such abuse of legal drugs is illegal and regrettable. But it should not, and does not, prevent medical professionals from prescribing the legal drugs for people who need them.

And then, there is marijuana. Pot is a curious case because its provenance in the culture is as a “recreational” drug. Yet marijuana has been shown to have therapeutic effects, including pain relief, nausea suppression and appetite stimulation. And now, an oil derived from marijuana has shown promise as a treatment for a seizure disorder that affects young children.

Two state senators, Democrat Daylin Leach of Montgomery County and Republican Mike Folmer of Lebanon County, have introduced a bill that would authorize use of the oil to treat children suffering from the seizures.

Gov. Tom Corbett and Republican leaders in both houses have said they won’t support the bill because they believe that such policy should be set at the federal level.

Ideally, this is just what should happen. In the meantime, 20 other states that have approved the prescription of medical marijuana by medical professionals aren’t waiting.

Pennsylvania should join them in approving not only the narrow bill, but in trusting medical professionals to prescribe marijuana-based medicines for patients who can benefit.

The Obama administration already has demonstrated that it won’t prosecute medicinal marijuana use where state legislatures, voters, or both have authorized it.

The state government foolishly has prevented several hundred thousand Pennsylvanians from obtaining health care coverage due to political differences with the Obama administration. It should not now defer to the federal government to deny Pennsylvanians access to medicine that could help treat their illnesses.

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